Lightroom 3 newbie

Hi chaps, I think I've screwed up, I'm no ludite but I just can't get my head around how lightroom works. I have a couple of questions here so please be patient.

(1) I want to look at my SD card and choose which pics to import and convert to DNG but I don't seem to be able to find a way of 'flagging' the keepers in that view must I import from card to hard drive first ?

(2) Whilst attempting this I hit the import button by mistake, all the images were imported into a folder lightroom created in my user account in 'pictures' - so I deleted this and created a new folder on my desktop and dragged all the files from the sd card into this new folder but when I try and import from this new folder the images are greyed out and I get "This photo is a suspected duplicate" - I guess I've screwed up somehow ... is there a way of clearing lightroom's 'memory' and starting again ?

Many thanks to anyone taking the time.

Roger

Roger,

Once you import the images into Lightroom it keeps track of them. So once you imported them the first time it now wants to not import duplicates. When you delete a file or folder with your operating systems, be it Mac or Windows, it still exists in the Lightroom catalog... at least the thumbnails and the record of it. A couple things you could do from here. In Lightroom you can select all those images and simply delete them from Lightroom, then re-import from your new folder. Or, when you click on one of these images Lightroom should indicate that it can not find the original. A right mouse click will give you a pulldown menu and you can select Find Image and tell it where the new location is and it will link back up to them all in the new location.

For Lightroom and all image files anytime you want to move or delete a file or files you should do it all within Lightroom. On the Left side panel in Grid mode (Library) you can find all your drives and folders. Simply select, drag and drop between drives and folders over there and Lightroom will always keep track of everything.

Also, for importing routine I always simply copy ALL images from my memory card to a folder first. Then I import the images from that folder into Lightroom. Once in Lightroom it becomes easy to 'weed' through images. I rate some as keepers for further look/processing, others as just keepers, and others I delete. Lightroom creates a better environment to go through this process so I don't worry about culling through them from the card. Much easier in Lightroom.

Ron

Ron ... what can I say, thank you for such a comprehensive answer, solved all of my problems ... I will revisit LR now, determined to get my head around it as it seems everyone who takes their photography seriously uses it. Many thanks again Roger

In the Import dialog the only sorting that can be done is a simple yes/no, import/don't import, which is done with the check box in the upper left corner of each thumbnail. In the right side panel create and designate your destination folder, otherwise the default will be (as you have seen) My Pictures. After the files have been imported there will be a large variety of methods for grading, sorting and keywording in the Library module.

Roger,

I have been using LR since the first version, within a couple of weeks of the first release. I could not do my job as efficiently without it. I currently have 220,000 images in my catalog and it has no problem. I have years worth of images, many of them are of paying clients. I often get requests from past clients to buy an image I took years ago. I never have problems finding what they are looking for, often times finding exactly what they want in just a couple minutes, or even a few seconds. Like any good tool implementation is everything and there are many ways to do the same thing. Find a work flow that works for you, learn from others. This is the reason for forums like this one.

Ron

http://tv.adobe.com …lightroom-3/be-organized/

Thank you all for your contributions, good of you. Those videos look really good I'll check them out and I've ordered the book by Nat Coalson.

Busy few days ahead, back to school !

Roger